Air Force: C-130 overshot landing strip in May mishap

Oct. 8, 2013 - 06:00AM
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A C-130 loaded with passengers on a medical evacuation flight skidded off the runway at a forward operating base May 19 because the plane approached the landing strip too fast for weather conditions, according to an Air Force accident investigation.

The plane careened beyond the 7,000-foot runway at FOB Shank, which is at about 6,600 feet above sea level and had a weather advisory for gusts of 25 to 35 knots, an Air Force Accident Investigation Board reported.

There were no fatalities or major injuries in the crash. The crew, upon impact, ran through emergency response procedures to evacuate patients. The Air Force did not announce the cost of the damage to the C-130.

The aircraft was assigned to the 19th Airlift Wing at Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark., and operated by deployed members of the 451st Air Expeditionary Wing.

The incident was not the first for the base, which is about 70 miles south of Kabul. Coalition forces in 2010 installed the landing strip to begin landing fixed-wing aircraft, such as C-130s and C-17s.

On Jan. 23, 2012, a C-17 also overran the landing strip, crashing into an embankment and causing $69.4 million in damage to the aircraft’s landing gear, cargo floor, undercarriage, antennas and structural components, according to an Air Force AIB on the mishap. There were no injuries.

Investigators found that the pilot and co-pilot also failed to calculate the landing distance required to safely stop the aircraft. In addition, the AIB found that the failure to assess runway conditions at the base contributed to the mishap.